Missouri's Parents' Fair Share program, operated by the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) has two goals: 1) increasing the numbers of noncustodial parents able to support their children by helping them get good jobs and increase their earning capacity and 2) increasing the number of noncustodial parents who assume an active, positive role in their children's lives. (Initially, between 1992 and 1998, the program was a joint child support enforcement/welfare program.)

Participation in the program is voluntary. Participants must be Missouri residents over the age of 18 who are parents with active child support cases. They must be unemployed or underemployed (most are unemployed; few are underemployed). Child Support Technicians, the staff members responsible for enforcement in Missouri, routinely refer all eligible noncustodial parents in their caseloads to the program. In addition, some parents are ordered into the program by the courts as a condition of probation for failure to pay child support.

Considering whether the noncustodial parent should be referred to the program is now part of the routine of working a case. If a Technician discovers that the noncustodial parent earns less than minimum wage, works fewer than 40 hours per week, or has multiple orders and is unable to meet all of the obligation due to a low salary, he (or she) will be referred. Low wage workers who express a desire to improve their earnings may be referred also. Participants usually are in arrears, although an arrearage is not required to participate.

When an eligible parent is identified, the technician fills out an electronic form which is forwarded to the Parents' Fair Share program. The Parents' Fair Share case manager sends a letter to the noncustodial parent inviting him (or her) to an orientation. Both orientation and PFS appointments are held at sites away from the DCSE offices to increase noncustodial parents' comfort level with the program.

About 25 of every 100 parents invited attend an orientation. (The letter from the PFS case manager also indicates that if the parent does not choose to attend, the case will be referred back to the technician for legal action.) Of the 25 who do attend, 22 or 23 sign up for the program. Ninety-five percent of these are unemployed at the time they enroll.

The benefits of participation are significant:

Noncustodial parents who enroll in Parents' Fair Share go through an assessment to determine their strengths and the barriers to their self-sufficiency. Working with a PFS Case Manager they develop a self-sufficiency plan which outlines their goals, what they will do to achieve them, and what the case manager will do to assist them. Participants continue to meet at least monthly with their case manager -- they may meet weekly if seeking work.

Strong linkages with employment programs in the state (one-stop centers, workforce development programs, both the WtW formula and competitive grants, vocational rehabilitation, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for Occupational Classroom Training, CAP agencies) allow participants to access a variety of services and training programs. The program also can pay up to $3,500 per participant for job training. For example, the program has had good success with paying for participants to be trained as welders or truck drivers of over-the-road, 18-wheel vehicles. Almost all walk out with good jobs. While in training, the program expects participants to work at least part-time to pay their child support.

Currently, 37 case managers provide PFS services. With a caseload of approximately 65 apiece, some workers cover as many as 13 rural counties; four workers share Kansas City, five, St. Louis.

At the end of 1999 the program included 1,608 participating noncustodial parents. At that time, 980 were employed, 807 fulltime. In November of 1999, 1,022 parents in the program made a child support payment, averaging $196.

From July 1998 through June 1999, $1,545,043 in child support was paid by program participants. At the end of February 2000, with 4 more months to the State fiscal year, collections were at $1,559,057.

Statewide.

State appropriated funds pay for this program; IV-D funds pay for the child support technicians who work the child support cases of parents in the program. (While Missouri considered operating this program as part of its federally assisted welfare-to-work program, when the state took a look at the fathers who were not paying, it was discovered that many did not meet the strict requirements of that program.)

Dave Damico, director of the program within DCSE, advises holding meetings between parents and program case managers away from child support offices. Cooperation and trust are higher when meetings are held in churches, libraries, city hall. This takes away the implication that bad things will come of participating.

“You must publicize the program to your own child support staff, ” says Damico. “Since we rely on the technicians for referrals, we have needed to educate them. This is a different method of enforcement. We look at why someone isn't paying and help them overcome those issues.”

Moving the program to DCSE alone allowed the program to focus on noncustodial parents solely and achieve greater success. (Family Services had mainstreamed NCPs with the general TANF population.) Finally, Damico recommends tracking collections very closely. This makes it possible to evaluate program performance and helps to sell the program.

Dave Damico, Program Manager, Parents' Fair Share, 301 E. Armour, Suite 100, Kansas City, MO 64111, 816-889-5182, ddamico@mail.state.mo.us. In the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, contact Dail Moore on 202-401-3438 or dmoore@acf.dhhs.gov